Bracket for hanging pictures and the like



July 5, 1960 J. w. csoss BRACKET FOR HANGING PICTURES AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-s 1 Filed May 195s NVENTo W L g ORNI-jgg July 5, 1960 .1. w. GOSS ,831

BRACKET FOR HANGING PICTURES AND THE LIKE Filed May 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jul/mes WGoss ATTORNEYS Una States BRACKET FOR HANGING PICTURES AND THE LIKE James W. Goss, 410 South St. SW., Warren, Ohio Filed May '5, 1958, Ser. No. 732,850

Claims. (Cl. 248-'31) A further object of the invention is to provide a spring loaded locking lever on the bracket for holding the rod-' likememb'erin adjusted position. 7 V V still further object of the inventionis to provide a key-hole slotted memberat the upper end ofthe rodlike meniberxfor attachment td a "screw, nail orsimilar fastening means."

xzIt is also an object of the invention to provide a hinge joint between the rod-like'member and the key-holeslottedimember. i

Another object of the-invention is to provide a pivotal connection between the bracket and a picture frame or similar object. V t 1 The above and other objects, apparent from the drawings and following description, may be attained, the above described difiiculties overcome and the advantages and results obtained, ,by the apparatus, construction, arrangement and combinations, subcombinations and parts which comprise the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which, illustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principle, being set forth in detail in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. p v a .In general terms, the invention may be described as comprising a bracketwith means for attaching the same to the back of a picture frame or the like. hasa housing formed thereon through which a rod-like member is vertically ,sliclable. T

p A flat member with a key-hole slot therein isfconnected tothe upper e'ndof'the rod-likemember for en gagement'with a screw, nail orother fastening means in a wall. The key-hole slotted member may be rigidly tionally holdingihe rod-like member adjusted posiconnected to the upper endgof the rod-like member or.

maybe hingedly connected theretolfl j The rod-like member has a shoulder. or projection uponl its lower end'to limit upward movement thereof relative to the bracket. The bracket may "beri'gidly connected The bracket I A spring-loaded locking 7 lever is located the housing .of the bracket for; fric a ter Y or meansmay be provided for pivotally mounting the bracket upon the back of the picture frame. 7

, The rod like member may be in the form of a round rod or may be a flat strip of metal or the like. The

device is so constructed that the rod-like member may normally be slidably moved downward relative to the bracket, but is normally held against upward movement relative thereto.

Haying'thus briefly described the invention, reference is now made to the embodiments thereof illustrated in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a detached perspective view of a picture hanging bracket embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view show ing the spring-loaded lever for frictionally holding the rod-like member against movement relative to the bracket per se;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of a modified form of the device showing means for partially attaching the bracket per seto the back of a picture frame: or the like; 7

Fig. 4 isan enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a modified form of the invention, in which a leaf spring is provided for loading the locking lever; I

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper end portion of a rodlike member with the key-hole slotted member hingedly' connected'thereto; I

Fig. 6 is a detached perspective view with parts broken away showing the picturehanging bracket provided with a flat rod-like member;

Fig; 7 isa rear elevation of a mirroror the-like showing the manner "of'attaching the improvedbrackets to the of the mirror or picture;

Fig. 9 is a view-similar to Fig. 7, showing the type of bracket illustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 10'is a side elevation of a shadow box showing the manner of attaching the pivoted brackets of Fig. 3

with the hinged key-hole slotted members of Fig. 5;

Fig. 11 is a simflar view showing the shadow box adjusted to final position upon the wall; and

V Fig; 12 is an elevation of another modification.

' i Referring now more particularly tothe embodiment illustrated in'Figs. l, 2,; 7 and 8, the improved picture hanging bracket comprises the bracket per se indicated generally ;at 1 5 7 andthe r'c d -lil ;e member in.

' flihe bracket per se comprises aback platej lTwhich: maybe providedzwith apertnres 13 for; attaching the; same to the back of a picture frame,- mirror or the like by screws 19. or theilike, asshown iniFig. 7.

' A housing 20. is formed upon the upper portion of the' bracket and comprisesone side wall 21, the lower end of which'terminates the tapered ribZZ, a top wall 23 and bottom wall 24.

1 diameter than the rod 16.

"A locking 1am 27 is 'fulcruiried through an baring Patented July 5, 1960" 7 shown in Fig. 2. r 1 7 V A coil spring :30 is located around the rod 16 between the 'bottomwall 24 of the housing and the locking lever .27. Asshown in Fig. 2 the spring 30 holds the right hand end portion of the lever 27 tilted upward frictionalthe wall. to conceal the brackets, rods and nails or screws.

Instead thesidewallfzljof thehousing and Jhas anfopen- 7 g2? ther in o sl gh ly largerIQ m eLtha he'rQ 16, through which opening the rod is. located as best ly engaging the upper right hand edge and the lower left hand edge of the opening Zflagainst the rod 16. This.

is attached to the upper end of the'rod 16.1 "As best .E'. 3,943,8 I v in 7 ,with suitable apertures 3 9 like, as indicated; at .40, may be located to attach the" same to. the rear of a picture frame or mirr'oras indicated 1 atA.inFig.9. f I

through which screws or the The pivotal joints brackets and rods to compensate. for any error in the i bracket in Fig. 9. a As shown in Fig. 4, a leaf spring 30b may be substituted for the coil spring of Figs. 2 and. 3 for loading I locksithe rod 16 against upward movement vr elat ive to 7 the bracket while permitting the rod to bemoved downward relative to the bracket. n f V A fiat memberi3l provided with a key-hole slot 32,-

ly attached to the flat member 31 bylocating the end' member 31 and welding as indicated at 34.

In order to prevent, the rod from being moved upward of the rod within a not ch 33 in the lower edge of the 7 out of the bracket, a, suitable shoulder or projectionis formed upon the lowerend of the rod, as by flattening.

the same as indicated at 35.

V 7 The improved picture hanging bracket may be easily 7 and readily attached to the back of a pictureframe, mirror or other object 'to be hung and the picture or other object may be easily hung from nails or screws located, in properly spaced positions in a wall, and adjusted relative thereto so as to conceal the brackets, rods and nails orother attaching means.

'As shown in Fig.7, two of the brackets may be attached to the back of a mirror or the like, as indicated 1 at A, at points near the side edges thereof, by-means of screws 19 or the like. The rods 16 are adjusted relative to the brackets 15 so that the key-hole slotted members- 31 will be located ahove'the top of the mirror or picture frame as ShOWHfiJl Fig.- 7 i r 1 V V thusfbe easily'hungby V engaging the key-hole slots 32,1,at 'the upperends of; the rod'mernbers with nails, screws or the like as indicated at36, which have been attached; to the 'wall' at proper 1 locations to receive the key-hole slots. i

' -After the pictureior'mirror isqhung, it may then. be;

movedf upward, sliding the brackets upon the. rods.16

to the desired position as shownzin Fig. 8, in which the.

The picture orotherobject may location of the supporting .nails or screws- 56:? in the po'sition of the right hand? walls, as indicated by' the the locking lever 27b in order to frictionally engage the rod 16b. The bracket per se 15b in this form of the invention may be either 'as'shown in Figs. 1 and 2 or'as in Fig. 3. a

As shown in Fig. ,5, the key-hole slottedmember 310 may be hingedly connected to the upper end of the rod member 16c instead of rigidly attached thereto as in Fig. 1. For this purpose, a tubular hinge knuckle '41 may be formed upon the lower end of the slotted member V 31c, and the upper end of the rod member 160 may be angularly bent as at 42 and rotatably located withinsaid strip 16d, as shown in Fig.- 6, instead of a round rod as Fig. 6 and may be of the same construction as shown and above described withQthe exception. that elongated.. slots 25d,- 26d. and 29d are forinedjnlthe topiand bot-f brackets, rods and'screws or nails 36 are concealed behind the mirror or picture.

' It will be seen that all work is thus done in the open.

The picture or other object is easily and readily hung upon the wall, as the key-hole slots at the upper ends of the rods are located above the top of the picture or mirror frame and thus clearly visible from the front so that they may be easily engaged with the screws or nails in And after the picture is hung, it is adjusted Thepicture or other object thus hung will be held in adjusted position, as the spring-loaded lever '27 frictionally engaging the rods 16 in the manner abovedescribed';

will preventidownward movement. of the brackets and than as'shown in Figs. -1 "and 2. "The ho'usingflla, rods 9 16a, locking lever 27a'and spring 30almay alLbe of the 5 same construction as shown in Figs. 1' and'Z and above described.

picture or mirror frame, the same is pivotallyattached, as indicated at 37, to an attaching plateisiprovided' of. attaching the back. plate 175' rigidly to I 'andin the lever 27d,*.through which s lotswthe flats fibi 16d is slidably located. The spring 30d. may be-acoik. spring as shown in FigsQZjand 3, vor ahleaf .spri'ngasj shown in Fig. 4, and

described. a m L For the purpose of hanging shadow boxes, pivoted V brackets such as shown inFig. 3 may be used, andthe f.

key-hole slotted members may be hingedly connected to v slotted members tightly 'againstitliel walhl' a I box 5 is then,pushed 'upwardeithebrackets15asliding;

p d'upou'therod members16a to the-positionshownf" in Fig. llytheback of theshadow box being flush against",

the wall and the shadow .box :being' level 'as .shojwinm sx f above described. A key-hole slot 32d maybe formed in the upper end of the strip for engaging over a nail, screw or the like in the wall, and any suitable projection or enlargement, such as the punched-out tongue 44, may be formed upon, the lower end portion ofthe strip 16d .to limit upward movement of the strip relative. to the bracket'per se. 7. V f i" The bracket per se is indicatedgenerally at 15d in .tomf walls 23d, and. 2412 respectively ofxthe; housing 20d the operation is the same as above the upper ends of the rod members as shown in- Fig. 5 fIn Figs. 10 and 11 is shown the manner of hanging'a shadow box indicated generally, at S, flush with a wall W by means 'of these brackets; In hanging the'shadow box, screws 45 or thelike are inserted into the wall at' proper distances apart and at the desired'height. The

head of each screw should be left protruding from thej the. brackets. may be .Swung' backwardtoward the wall" 5* upon their pivots 37, sojthat-thefkey-hole'slottedmem bers' 31.all may be inFig. 10. e ,1

gThe screws are the aha The shadow Fig. 1 1, the key-hole slotted members 31c and the screws 45 being concealed by;the shadow box:

In Fig. 12is'shown anembodime'ntlof the invention which'a reversible bracket .is provided .for attachmenttof H the back of a picture frame, mirror or the like adjacent T to eitherthe left or right ,side thereof The bracket per 37- permitradial adjustment offthe] engaged over the screwsss as shownf. F

ilo ckfthe issues i 5 plate 17a extending above and below the housing 20a. Apertures 18e are formed in the back plate above and below the housing, for receiving screws or the like for attaching the bracket to the picture frame, or other object tobehung.. p

The rod 162, which may be the same as the rods of any of the forms of the invention above describeCL-is slidably located through the housing of the bracket in the manner above described. A member 31e is provided at the upper end of the rod and has a keyhole slot 32a therein, andan enlargement 35a is provided upbn the lower end of the rod.

A locking lever is fulcrumed within the housing 20c and loaded by a spring 30e for causing the lever to frictionally lock the rod in adjusted position in the manner above described.

As shown in Fig. 12, the bracket and rod assembly are adapted for attachment to a picture frame or the like near the left hand edge thereof, the lever 27c protruding from the left side of the housing so as to be easiiy accessible for adjusting.

For use near the right edge of the picture frame, the bracket per se 152 would be inverted and the rod would be inserted therethrough from top to bottom, with the spring 302 surrounding the rod and located beneath the lever 27e, the free end of which would extend to the right so as to be accessible for adjusting.

When it is desirable to remove pictures, mirrors, shadow boxes or similar objects hung by the improved device, it is only necessary that the locking levers be tilted so as to release the rods. The picture or other object may thus be moved downward, sliding the brackets upon the rods until the key-hole slotted members are exposed above thetop of the picture, so that they may be disengaged from the screws or nails in the wall.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention or discovery, the construction, the operation, and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful construction, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for hanging framed pictures and the like upon a wall, said device comprising a bracket, said bracket including a back wall, means for connecting the back wall to a picture and the like, a housing mounted upon the back wall, said housing comprising a front wall, vertically spaced top and bottom walls and a side wall at one side of the housing, there being an opening in said side wall and aligned openings in said top and bottom walls, a rod member slidably located through said aligned openings, means at the upper end of the rod for attachment to a wall, a locking lever located transversely through the housing and having one end portion fulcrumed through the opening in said side wall and extending outwardly therebeyond, said locking lever having an opening therein of larger cross-sectional area than the rod, said rod being located through said opening in the locking lever, and a coil spring surrounding said rod between said bottom wall and the locking lever for normally preventing downward movement of the bracket relative to the rod member.

2. A device for hanging framed pictures and the like upon a wall, said device comprising a bracket, said bracket including a back wall means for connecting the back wall toapicture the like, a housing mountedupon the back said housing comprising a front wall, vertically spaced top and bottom walls and a: side wall at one side of thehousing, the opposite sideof, the housing being open, there being an opening in said side wall and aligned openings in said top andbottom walls, a rod member slidably located through said'aligned openings,

means at the upper end of the rod for attachment to a wall, a locking lever located transversely through the housing and having one end portion fulcrumed through the opening in said side wall and extending outwardly therebeyond, said locking lever having an opening therein of larger cross-sectional area than the rod, said rod being located through said opening in the locking lever, and a coil spring surrounding said rod between said bottom wall and the locking lever for normally preventing downward movement of the bracket relative to the rod member, the free end of the locking lever extending through the open side of the housing to permit manual operation thereof.

3. A device for hanging framed pictures and the like upon a wall, said device comprising a bracket, said bracket including a back wall means for connecting the back wall to a picture and the like, a housing mounted upon the back wall, said housing comprising a front wall, vertically spaced top and bottom walls and a side wall at one side of the housing, there being an opening in said side wall and aligned openings in said top and bottom walls, a rod member slidably located through said aligned openings, means at the upper end of the rod for attachment to a wall, a locking lever located transversely through the housing and having one end portion fulcrumed through the opening in said side wall and extending outwardly therebeyond, said locking lever having an opening therein of larger cross-sectional area than the rod, said rod being located through said opening in the locking lever, and a coil spring surrounding said rod between said bottom wall and the locking lever for normally preventing downward movement of the bracket relative to the rod mernwall to a picture and the like, a housing mountedupon the back wall, said housing comprising a 'fi'ontwall,

vertically spaced top and bottom walls and a side wall I at one side of the housing, there being an opening in said side wall, the opposite side of the housing being open, there being aligned openings in said top and bottom walls, a rod member slidably located through said aligned openings, means at the upper end of the rod for attachment to a wall, a locking lever located transversely through the housing and having one end portion fulcrumed through the opening in said side wall and extending outwardly therebeyond, said locking lever having an opening therein of larger cross-sectional area than the rod, said rod being located through said opening in the locking lever, and a coil spring surrounding said rod between said bottom wall and the locking lever for.

normally preventing downward movement of the bracket relative to the rod member, the free end of the locking lever extending through the open side of thehousing to permit manual operation thereof.

5. A device for hanging framed pictures and the like upon a wall, said devicecomprising a bracket saidbracket including a back wall, an attaching plate pivotally con? nected to the'back wall, means for connecting the attaching plate to a picture and the like, a housing mounted 7 upon the back wall, said housing comprising a front wall, vertically spaced top and bottom walls and a side a A 7 References Cit ed in the file of patent NITED STATES PATENTS, j

Magerhahs Mai'. 10, 1903,; Oct; 10,1905, Copeland Aug. 4, 1908 Samard Feb. 10, 1931 Du Mais r Apr. 8, 1952 EQREIGN PATE NTS V 1' Belgium -..V...,V. Nov. 14, 19 51 V 

